22 Responses to "Home Electrical Wiring Basics"

Hi Joby! You are obviously an expert on electrical issues. I wish you had a
local office! My husband has a good basic knowledge of household
electrical, and has had success re-wiring some basic circuits; but is
‘stumped’ by our ‘current’ (lol) problem. We have an adjoining guest cabin
wired into the main house. At the junction box; we have three strands;
Black (hot), white, (neutral), and yellow. (ground) Voltage between the
white and black (red & black going to the cabin) is 220V. Between the
ground and the black, or the ground and the white is 110V. All the outlets
at the cabin have 110V. We want enough power at the cabin to run lights,
TV, and a small a/c unit. Obviously; we want safe grounding. Any clue what
the issue might be? You’re videos are wonderful! I’m sure if you were here
you could fix this in a jiffy! We have a graduation party coming up June
1st and can’t find a local guy in time. Help! (hopefully) Thank you so
much.﻿

As you point out only the BLACK (‘hot’) wire must get switched!
Unfortunately many a dummy doesn’t know this and switches the white wire.
And it DOES work (makes the light go on or off) and so he thinks he did a
fine job. Except someone later comes along (including himself) wanting to
change the light fixture, turns off the switch, the light goes out, and
then starts changing the fixture thinking there is ‘no power’ to it. ZAP
if he touches the black wire on the fixture because it’s STILL LIVE (it
wasn’t switched, the white incorrectly was). His body now provides the
completion of the circuit so gets zapped. Which is why anyone should
ALWAYS shut off the circuit breaker at the box before doing ANY electrical
work on ANY circuit— that solves the above possible problem caused by
some earlier dummy wiring it the wrong way. (in some cases a white wire is
used AS a black/hot wire in which case it is marked with black tape to
signify that but it maintains the rule that ONLY the hot wire in a circuit
is switched).﻿

So, I’ve been in a couple houses where there were wall outlets that were
turned on/off by a light switch. Is this due to the fact that the switch
was placed earlier in the chain than the wall outlet? If so, I’m guessing
that if the Romex was run differently, to where the wall outlet appeared
earlier in the chain that the light switch, it would not be affected by it?
Thanks for the info in this video, things appear much clearer to me now!﻿

I appreciate the simplicity of your video and drawing. However, there are
three problems with your video for novices and it concerns me. 1st it
appears from your drawing that you are showing the line (black wire) going
to the left side of the outlet and the white (neutral) going to the right.
That is backwards. Facing the front of a switch, the black goes on the
right (under the brass screws!) and the neutral (white) always goes under
the aluminum screws on the left. 2nd, you indicate they can you use the
push-in connectors on the back. A good electrician never uses the push-in
connectors because they can eventually come loose; they use only screw
terminals. 3rd you say you can use pigtails but then go onto indicate that
they can just use the push-in or screw terminals to continue power to the
next fixture. A good electrician will use pigtails in the box with one of
those lines going to the outlet and the other leaving the box going to the
next receptacle or fixture.﻿

I always check comments when I see a video that s obviously a trustworthy
guy who is real. I don’t care about bells and whistles ( fancy bs cameras
etc. ). This guy works for me, good job, your friend paul from delta b.c
Canader eh,﻿

Thank you …. i have been looking at a lot of videos and i have to say you
are not the best artist but you were able to explain why the white wire
does not go into the switch. Love the video and your drawing. I wanted to
add an outlet to a switch. thanks again.﻿

Great video… I want to tap power from a garage socket and run a conduit
to a light switch then drill holes for an outdoor garage light. What gauge
wire do I use to run three outdoor garage lights? Thanks﻿

Need your help! how do I wire up 6 lights for my basement. I ran Romex 14/2
(white-Black-ground) for all the lights. There is a 12/3 BX cable running
from the braker box, to a junction box I would like to use for power, to
the 6 lights. Thanks for your time (Antony)﻿